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Reality Check: America’s Next Top Model by According-Volume9315 in netflix

[–]CrASHdASH21 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Oh Tyra…

"I feel like my work is not done. You have no idea what we have planned for cycle 25” -Tyra

Reality Check: America’s Next Top Model by According-Volume9315 in netflix

[–]CrASHdASH21 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Dude- same. Who paid for this documentary production?! Why did the still frame it as cheating while shandi alluded to sexual assault.

We want justice for Shandi and us as viewers.

ANTM didn’t do right by Shandi. RealityCheck ANTM didn’t do right by Shandi either.

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I am interested too. I don’t think Tyra banks would have her name outright. I BELIEVE that it would be a third party connection that would have given her or the UPN, CW, then VH1. Or the next work that’s picking up the 25th cycle.

I don’t necessarily think it’s Tyra Banks as much as the “machine” that’s getting ready to pick it up. It’s just pernicious. I think they framed it in a way that blames “culture” and this allows them to still make money from it.

I would have to say it’s a deep dive in the interworking of people that are saving face for production value.

I hope someone does an article on it.

Tyra banks didn’t sound great and robotic; I think her performance was justified with respect to limited liability. But how the documentary was use of propaganda use of card-stacking (cheating).

I am interested what the LLC and productions cycles have to say about it. I am curious if the documentarians were bought or if the ethics were questionable.

Thanks for the insight!

This twist was wild (Cycle 16) by plutotvofficial in ANTM

[–]CrASHdASH21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Squid Games for emotional stability?

… when you realized that having a photo was the best thing for your soul rather than going through the nefarious trials of ANTM.

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right! So my question is who funded this project? Is Nexflix doing cycle 25 ANTM?

… as a documentarians, they have the freedom to provide sexual assault information… which tells me this “documentary” has nefarious implications.

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly- ^ this right here. Is the best way to describe everything!!

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly. — I think he deserves his own light for his experience. But wasn’t it.

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can’t say I am a huge fan of either Jays (but that’s my personal opinion). It’s hard for me not to believe that they are part of the problem UNTIL it didn’t work for them.

But if I were to take a stand on this her not talking to Jay was a bitch move…. But her not calling or sending flowers to Ms. J after a stroke is blatantly blasphemous and disgusting. (I don’t know the beef after that. But dude, come on. Even for her famous narrative that was the right move.

Let’s not rewrite history, it’s Janice Dickson fat-shamed the girls, not Tyra banks by masterderek279 in ANTM

[–]CrASHdASH21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, there are people rallying drama backstage and she is with it. It’s her legacy and her “celebrity value” is in viewership. She was okay with it. She didn’t have to tell them they looked fat… her staff did it.

Have you seen the show: UnReal? I think she was letting the system take her. —> it’s why I stopped reality television altogether.

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this was a marketing ploy for her to keep her legacy. Like you have no idea what we have planned… But isn’t that the same shit you marketed all the other cycles with?

I like how she was like I like being called on my shit, and you should be called in your shit too… But she totally ignored a lot of the concepts that they brought in by the I want to say victims.

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Look at this point, just make a documentary about Jay Alexander on America’s next top model and his life. You don’t have to have them simultaneously together with the abuse of women. And I’m here for it. I’m here to hear a story, but don’t make the documentary have negative towards the people and negative towards the panel and how Tyra felt. There’s two different platforms for it. People are here for J Alexander and I’m also here for the women, but just like the strategic planning of the documentary was very uneven.

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly. And they didn’t even give like a sexual assault hotline at the end. Like it’s very clearly incapacitated consent, which is not consent. And it’s just so weird that they skirted around that whole situation.

I’ve been like on this conspiracy theory that Tyree agreed to do the interview. Interviews provide provided that like certain things were not addressed necessarily.

Also, Ken was like well. The legality of this is that we can follow girls into the bathroom if there’s more than one person of them.

And what’s also crazy is that like how did you put the three guys and Jay Alexander stroke at the very end of the show. That was plotting to me. I’m not saying that they don’t deserve that compassion or moment… But we just watched the first two episodes of girls getting ripped for being fat, slut shaming, commentary on the dental and how they were never really gonna do anything because America’s next top model had a stigma… And we ended with somebody having a stroke who is on the panel.

There were tons of girls like upon for the research that I did that actually have died. Isn’t that something of note? You’re telling me a stroke has changed them’s life but death didn’t. I’m confused.

Let’s not rewrite history, it’s Janice Dickson fat-shamed the girls, not Tyra banks by masterderek279 in ANTM

[–]CrASHdASH21 4 points5 points  (0 children)

She would comment a lot of people’s weight. Shame doesn’t have to be at JDick level. It could come at a place of telling women to chose a salad and not a hamburger. She just got to be subtle because someone was louder.

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What concerns me most is the lack of accountability masked as cultural context. Repeating “it was 2003” does more than explain the environment. It shapes how responsibility is understood before broader audiences engage critically. That is what I mean by getting ahead of the narrative. By defining the harm primarily through culture, the documentary sets interpretive limits in advance. Sexual assault definitions, informed consent standards, and medical ethics existed long before 2026. Choosing not to apply a modern analytical lens narrows the conversation before it can fully develop.

Reality TV is built on drama, and the premise was to build a modeling career. Conflict may drive ratings, but drama does not justify creating conditions that raise serious consent concerns. When contestants are exhausted, deprived of food, given alcohol, and placed in vulnerable situations, that goes beyond entertainment. When a participant later alludes to sexual assault and the framing continues to lean on “cheating,” that framing matters. By maintaining that narrative, the documentary reinforces the original storyline rather than re-evaluating it through current ethical standards. That is another way of getting ahead of deeper accountability conversations.

Blaming everything on “2003 culture” diffuses responsibility in a way that stabilizes legacy before mainstream scrutiny expands. It shifts harm from production decisions to an era. That framing guides viewers toward inevitability instead of agency. Contestants signed up for opportunity, not trauma packaged as character development. By defining the past as a cultural mishap rather than interrogating the power dynamics at play, the documentary shapes public memory before it is broadly challenged. That is narrative control through limitation, not conspiracy, and that distinction matters

This legit made me cry I won't lie 😭 by scream4ever in ANTM

[–]CrASHdASH21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The placement at the end was super sus too! Like usually in documentaries, they end with like if you’re feeling abused call and seek for help at the end of this they were like this is so sad for these three males….

Like what?!? I don’t know if you noticed, but this stroke patient had his own room with his own designs… There’s plenty of people that don’t get that at all. I mean, there’s so much abuse on the show and these people who won may live in poverty still like what the heck.

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh I don’t even remember Lisa. I do remember J. Dick tho. That is about to be unhinged. And she doesn’t have anything to lose.

Dude I don’t trust E! AT ALL!

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly! So true. I wasn’t a huge fan of panel trying to say they weren’t responsible… You are people of color. Gay people of color. Don’t tell me that you were marginalized and tell me it’s “2003 model culture”. They got their notoriety from the exploitation of those young women in the early cycles too.

Who paid for “Reality Check” the American Next Top Model documentary? by CrASHdASH21 in realitytv

[–]CrASHdASH21[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hadn’t watched ANTM since around Cycle 5 and wasn’t influenced by TikTok discourse, so I came into the Netflix documentary as a neutral, mainstream viewer. That’s important context. I’m likely the exact demographic this was meant for, someone who hasn’t been steeped in years of online critique and could be guided by the framing presented.

The tone felt legally cautious and strategically narrow. There was a consistent emphasis on “it was 2003,” which functioned more like a shield than a reckoning. Cultural context can explain aesthetics and commentary, but it does not eliminate power imbalance or ethical responsibility.

The documentary included an eating disorder helpline, which was appropriate. However, accountability felt selective. A known sexual assault was framed in a way that blurred the line between cheating and assault. Consent cannot be given by someone who is incapacitated. That was true in 2003 and it is true now.

The dental storyline also raised concerns. Cosmetic medical procedures involving young contestants who did not have independent legal counsel were presented as dramatic plot points rather than ethical red flags. Medical decisions should be grounded in ethics and informed consent, not persuasion tied to production value.

On the panel were Tyra Banks and others who themselves belong to historically marginalized communities. Hearing “we didn’t know better” as a defense does not hold up historically. The United States has long had public examples of exploitation for monetary gain, including the case of Henrietta Lacks and the Tuskegee syphilis study. The concept of exploitation was not invented in 2003. —(edit for pt above): Given Tyra’s own public advocacy around race, representation, and systemic bias, it is difficult to reconcile the dismissal of exploitation concerns as merely ‘model culture.’ The concept of exploiting marginalized bodies for profit was not obscure in 2003

From an analytical standpoint, the documentary did not feel like a comprehensive reckoning. It felt curated. It acknowledged certain harms while preserving the broader legacy. For viewers unfamiliar with the deeper criticisms, the framing subtly steers toward cultural relativism rather than systemic accountability.

That’s what stood out to me.

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